Dogs and inflatables

My most reliable fishing partner is my dog. Always wants to go, doesn't mind falling in, has all his own stuff and never outfishes me, never tells me I shoulda been here yesterday.

He's a retriever, about 70 lbs. So I can't take him on my toon, together we're just too big. But I'd like to get an inflatable pontoon or raft for drifting. In your experience, what kind of floor should I look for, and have you any other advice about dogs and inflatables?

My most reliable fishing partner is my dog. Always wants to go, doesn't mind falling in, has all his own stuff and never outfishes me, never tells me I shoulda been here yesterday.

He's a retriever, about 70 lbs. So I can't take him on my toon, together we're just too big. But I'd like to get an inflatable pontoon or raft for drifting. In your experience, what kind of floor should I look for, and have you any other advice about dogs and inflatables?

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If you get pontoon or a raft with the cloth floor, have you thought about a chunk of carpeting instead of wood?

My lab (65#) rides behind me on my Scadden Assault XXX while my wife takes the front seat. I have a section of fabric down for herthe dog to lie on though that's more for her comfort than to protect the boat. On rivers, I also have her wear a flotation vest even though she's a great swimmer. This helps protect her from swift water entrapment AND it has a grip on the top (sort of like a suitcase handle) so if she goes off the boat, I can help her easily get back in.

Thanks, all. When I had my driftboat, my old dog rode in the rear seat. As I move to an inflatable, I'm a bit worried about toenails and punctures, but nobody seemed to mention any issues there. I'm also wondering about getting stuck between the floor and the tubes in a self bailing raft, but the solutions you illustrate PT seem really workable for those worries, and better for the dogs, all mine like to be up high and see stuff. Dan's absolutely right about the flotation...in the past I've used the floatcoat I use during duck season but I can see the "handle" notion to be a very good idea.

GG, if you're worried about claws and punctures you might consider a different boat... Rafts are quite tough. As for paws getting stuck? Dogs are smart aminals. It may happen but I'm guessing they'd learn after the first time. Raising them up on a platform gives more space for gear anyway.

My lab (65#) rides behind me on my Scadden Assault XXX while my wife takes the front of seat. I have a section of fabric down for her to lie on though that's more for her comfort than to protect the boat. On rivers, I also have her wear a flotation vest even though she's a great swimmer. This helps protect her from swift water entrapment AND it has a grip on the top (sort of like a suitcase handle) so if she goes off the boat, I can help her easily get back in.

I never had a problem with dogs in the boats (and I've always had big labs in the 70+ # range). Never had a problem using the trampoline floors in my cats, but never had a dog in our rafts back in the day (only used the rafts pretty much for whitewatering).

I made a sweet dog platform for mine and all he wants to do is creep out to the very end of the pontoon, untill he falls off. Fast forward 20 mins and hes creepen out to the same spot and.... repeat. My only advice for dogs and boats is a life jacket for your dog with a HD strap do drag him back on the boat with!

Hi Guy, hows it going? We are lovin' it in AZ.
When we had a self bailing raft the dogs did ok but because they were on the floor they were constantly wet, and in some weather wet and cold.
I tried a small platform one of them did ok the other would not use it.
Got rid of the raft and never did find something that would work for the dogs.
I have a ten year old Aussie that would love to go with me but it would have to be in a dry boat like a driftie or pram
jesse